


Untitled alternate 5A story

by Pdxtrent



Series: A Series of Unfortunate Chapters [6]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Constructive Criticism Welcome, Dead Sheriff Stilinski, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 20:33:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29356512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pdxtrent/pseuds/Pdxtrent
Summary: This is the sixth in a series of first chapters I've written over the last couple of years. Sort of a glance into my 'work in gestation' file.Some of these have been mentioned in various chapter notes, like the Stiles and Bucky story, some of them have only been mentioned to my long suffering friends. I make no guarantees these will ever progress past a first chapter, but feel free to ask questions and make comments on them. Answering questions a lot of times will shake loose my thoughts on a particular project, and cause me to go back and tinker with them.I'm calling them my 'Series of (Un)fortunate Chapters.This is the original story that Out of the Ashes came from, before it was Stackson. And had far far more death.
Relationships: Derek Hale & Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Lydia Martin & Stiles Stilinski, Scott McCall & Stiles Stilinski
Series: A Series of Unfortunate Chapters [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2156343
Comments: 20
Kudos: 34





	Untitled alternate 5A story

The phone rings and she’s unsure if he’ll answer or if she’ll get voicemail. If it was her phone, she knew she’d only get voicemail, it’s all any of them got when they called. But after a moment she hears the line connect and a familiar and always suspicious voice say “Stiles.” She liked the way he said it like it was a statement and not a question. 

“Derek?” She says hesitantly, “Please don’t hang up.” 

There’s a pause on the other end and then he says “Lydia.” He’s hard to read, and always has been, but something in his voice sounds disappointed. 

“Is it safe there, wherever you are?” She says quietly into the phone.

“It’s as safe as I could find. It’s quiet.” 

“I need-“ she paused and wiped away the tears again, “he’s hurt. He needs safe. I need him to be safe.” 

Derek is so quiet for a long moment that she almost thinks the call has dropped, or he did hang up. “What happened?” He finally asks.

“There was an attack. I don’t know how much he’s told you but there’s been these creatures, chimeras. They’ve been causing problems. Something went wrong. No, everything went wrong, and-“ her voice broke, “The Sheriff is dead now, and Stiles is in the hospital. He almost didn’t make it.” 

“I can be there tomorrow.” Derek says and she sags in relief. 

“I know you never wanted to come back. But I didn’t know who else to call.” 

“I’ll come back for this.” He says, confirming a suspicion she’d hoped was right. 

“Thank you.” She says and he hangs up. She stands still for a moment, holding Stiles’s phone and takes a moment to just be thankful. She knows, though no one else seems to, that this is where it all ends for her friend. Beacon Hills, the Pack. 

Whatever comes next for him won’t be here with them. She’s always known the humanly fragile source of his strength, and she’s surprised that no one else seems to realize what’s coming, not even Scott who she thought knew him best. 

But, she thinks, maybe knowing him so long it’s easy to miss things like this. You get too close that it’s hard to see the bigger picture of a person because you’re so involved in the details. Maybe that explains the bad decision-making that Scott periodically shows concerning Stiles. 

“What did he say?” Scott says coming up beside her, and she refocuses on him. He looks tired, haunted in a way he hadn’t even after Allison had died. Stiles isn’t the only one who lost a father tonight, she thinks. 

“He’ll come. He’s on is way.” 

Scott’s face closes off even more, like he’s hiding his feelings even from himself. “This is my fault. Stiles warned me about Theo.” 

“You made the choice you thought was right.” She said, hesitant to say it was a decision she’d disagreed with, like so many of his recent choices, she knows she isn’t the one Scott will accept a truth like that from. And she’s not sure if anyone is anymore.

———-

Derek pulled the FJ into the Martin driveway and turned off the engine. He hesitated for a moment before opening the door and sliding out, closing the door behind him. He had only gone a few feet before the front door opened and Lydia rushed out and crashed into him, her arms tight around him. He stiffened with the unexpected contact. 

“Thank you.” She said, the words soft but intense. 

“You knew I’d come when you called.” He said simply, and the thing was, he suspected she had known.

“I hoped.” She dropped her hands and stepped back, and he could see the exhaustion in her every line as she looked him over. “You look great.” She said after a moment. 

“You look exhausted.” He replied. “When did you sleep last?” 

“Days ago.” She admitted. 

He ushered her inside. “Tell me what I need to know, then you’re going to sleep.” 

“I’ll be fine.” She said, then hesitated, “and I’m afraid to sleep.” 

“I’ll watch over you.” He said. 

“Ordinarily I’d say I didn’t need anyone.” 

“Trust me, as someone who’s said that too many times, you do.” 

She gave him a look he couldn’t quite translate, then said, “You’ve changed.” 

“I evolved.” He said, having no other word for the changes he’d gone through in Mexico. He still barely understood himself what that evolution actually meant and what it might encompass. But he had come to some conclusions about how it happened, and his suspicions started with the anchor who had pulled him back to Beacon Hills. 

“It started at the start of the semester.” She started. Then she told him about Theo, the dread doctors and the chimeras, and about Donovan; and how Scott had splintered the pack before Theo revealed what he truly was. She told him about the attack on Noah, and how Stiles tried to trap Theo with mountain ash before realizing Theo had been a chimera all along when it didn’t hold him, but that Stiles had wounded Theo with some liquid weapon Stiles hadn’t told anyone about, and how Theo had nearly killed Stiles before fleeing.

Derek’s eyes widened when she mentioned Stiles secret weapon. “He really did it.” He whispered. 

“You know what it is?” 

He nodded. “Stiles talked to me about it once after the Alphas. Wolfsbane and mistletoe suspended in a silver nitrate solution. It’s not just a poison. It’ll also fuck up the healing of a shifter, fog the senses, the silver does something to make the body’s cells accept the mistletoe easier, and more reluctant to release it. It’s not a quick death but it’s inevitable.” 

Her eyes widened. “He asked me about silver nitrate compounds this last summer, I didn’t realize what he wanted to suspend in it.” 

“He was worried about what Scott would think.” Derek admitted. 

Her eyes hardened. “I don’t think that will be a worry anymore.” 

“Why?” 

“He blames Scott for his dad.” She admitted. 

“But that was Theo you said.” 

“Scotts been-“ she hesitated, “he’s been kind of ignoring Stiles’ advice, listening to Theo more. The worse things got, the more he stopped listening to him.” 

“Allison part two.” Derek said, finally understanding. 

She nodded. “I loved Allison, but she started a rift between them, and then the True Alpha thing.” 

“What does this have to do with being a True Alpha?” 

“Scott thinks being the True Alpha is a sign of his superior morality.” 

Derek made a sound, “It’s a sign that he’s stubborn and things were fucked up, and that there was no alpha. He rose because the pack needed a leader, how did that become about some kind of moral superiority?”

Her eyes widened, “Thats definitely not what Scott thinks.” 

Derek made a sound, “Well, three quarters of Scotts brain has always been in Stiles’s head.” 

She made a small laugh. 

“Who’s acting Sheriff if Noah is dead?” 

“Currently it’s Parrish. Noah had mentioned to the commissioners that he was the best choice if anything happened, but with the deaths and disappearances, there’s talk about bringing someone in with more experience.” 

Derek nodded then asked, “Who’s handling the funeral arrangements?” 

“The county, though Melissa’s been trying to make sure Noah’s wishes are followed, but she’s been mostly focused on Stiles.”

“How bad is he?” 

“Some serious lacerations, blood loss, nerve damage, his left arm took the worst of it but Theo grazed over part of his chest too.” She looked at him closely with her tired eyes, “They’ve got him on some heavy duty painkillers, so he’s in and out of consciousness, but Melissa will get us in to see him in the morning. Parrish has a deputy on his door at all times.” 

He nodded. “And no signs of Theo?” 

“No.” 

“We need to assume the Doctors have a way of kicking the poison out of his system. Who can we trust?” 

“To watch Stiles? Malia of course. Liam maybe? He’s still heartbroken about Hayden dying, but he blames that on Scott and still feels he owes Stiles. Parrish, but he’s busy.” 

When she falls silent he feels a moment of panic, it’s a small group, and for a moment he feels the aching loss of his lost betas all over again. He nods, “I’ll make some calls. Is Peter-“ he hesitated. 

“Scott has him locked in Eichen.” 

Derek felt his eyes flare. “He put my uncle in Eichen?” 

“He tried to kill him.” 

“Scott tried to kill me too, but we didn’t put Scott in the seventh ring of supernatural hell as punishment.” 

“It’s strange and creepy place, but what do you mean?” 

“It’s walls are filled with mountain ash, and it’s warded against magic inside and out. The currents-“ he shook his head, “Ive been inside similar places. It’s hell for a werewolf.” 

“I’m not sure how to get him out.” She said. 

“I’ll deal with that. Get some sleep. Do you want to sleep down here or in your bed?” 

“The couch I think.” She said after a minute, and he followed her into the living room and watched as she lay down. She glanced back up at him. 

“I’m not going anywhere.” He said. “I’m just going to make some calls.” 

She nodded and closed her eyes. He could smell the moment she dropped into sleep, and he stepped back into the kitchen and called Cora.

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This story will likely never get written since large parts of the outline were stolen to make 'out of the ashes' but there are large parts of that outline I didn't end up taking, and those include a few things I really love. Including the truly darkest Stiles I've ever written. Though there's one story idea that is darker than even this one in my ideas folder...


End file.
